By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Australia’s highest-profile referee Brad Vocale talks to Fightnews.com® about his life in boxing and working as third man in the ring for ESPN globally televised Tim Tszyu vs. Steve Spark last week.

Tell me about your parents and life in the State of Victoria in the 1950s?

“My father was born in Italy, he came to Australia when he was four years old, my mum was born and raised in Maffra in eastern Victoria, to Aboriginal parents.

“Mum and Dad met in Lakes Entrance and eventually got married, and moved to Orbost, a small logging and farming country town, 327 miles east from Melbourne.

“Dad worked on a sawmill, and mum worked in the fields picking beans, together they had 10 children, nine boys and one girl.

“Life was very hard, work was hard to find and they both worked extremely hard to put food on the table, a roof over our heads and clothing on our backs.

“Dad actually did some boxing in the army, and he taught my eldest two brothers and me how to fight.

“They occasionally had small boxing events in Orbost and surrounds, in 1962 at age 7 and a half, I had my first fight, it was against my own cousin Brian Hayes, Brian was the brother of Harry Hayes, the former Australian and British Empire flyweight champion.

You were the cousin of 1968 world bantamweight champion Lionel Rose who you boxed in the gym. Tell me about sparring Lionel and other boxing greats Johnny Famechon and Rocky Mattioli.?

“Yes Lionel Rose is my cousin from my Mum’s side, I am also cousins with Harry Hayes, Lawrence ‘Baby Cassius’ Austin, Arthur Thomas, and Graham ‘Porky’ Brooke.

“Arthur was a handy lightweight fighter in the early-mid 60s, he fought the great Kimpo Amafio, amongst others.

“Baby Cassius also had a great amateur career, and as a professional, went in to win the Australian and Commonwealth titles, He has a win over former Indigenous great, Hector Thompson.

“Graham Brooke was the former Australian and Commonwealth lightweight champion, losing his title to future world champion Barry Michael. Porky also had a stellar amateur career, winning multiple Australian titles prior to turning professional.

“Lionel often stayed at our house in Orbost, and eventually he moved to Melbourne along with Arthur Thomas, where they both began their professional careers, training with legendary trainer Jack Rennie in Marco Polo Street Essendon.

“Lionel moved to Melbourne in 1963, and we followed in 1964, we moved into a Northern suburbs city called Reservoir, it was a rough tough area, and if you couldn’t fight, it was hard to survive.

“My younger brothers and I, were regularly bullied and badly discriminated against and bullied at school.

“The people in our street did not want a bunch of black fellas living in their street, and they let us know about it. Every day at school I was involved in street fights, day after day, week after week. It left me hating it and not wanting to go to school, at one stage I even packed my suitcase and decided to leave home and go back to Orbost, only to be stopped a kilometer or two down the road by mum and dad.

“As fate would have it, one night walking at the end of my street, I could hear all this noise coming from a garage, so I poked my head through the door and watched a few guys punching a bag, sparring, skipping and training boxing.

“The trainer then open the door to my surprise invited me in, he asked if I liked boxing and if I’d done any boxing, to which I replied yes, I’m Lionel Rose’s cousin, and I’ve had one fight, when i was 7 years old, he looked at me in disbelief, and said ok then, show me how you can punch this bag.

“After I hit the bag, he asked if I’d like to train with him, to which I replied yes, his name was Ray Horwood, I later found out, Ray was a former handy professional fighter, back in his day.

“I then trained and began my amateur career, training alongside many former TV ringside fighters like Hans Gent, Long John McCubbin, Robbie Hayes, Manny Benson, Rod Hall, John Todd, and a few regular TV ringside fighters Hilary Connelly and Daryl Carrick, often came to spar as well.

Tell me your amateur and professional boxing career during the 1960s and 70s?

“ I had a 52 Amateur fight career, I regularly fought on channel 9’s Golden Gloves from the GTV 9 studios in Bendigo Street Richmond, I also fought in town halls and local clubs in and around Melbourne and some country areas.

“ I had reasonable success as an Amateur, I fought for five State titles, winning three.

“ I had my first official amateur fight in late 1964, at 10 years old, I finished my amateur career at 14.5 years old, after trying out for the Olympic trials in 1968, along with another teammate Dennis Mizzi.

“We were both just kids, and shouldn’t have been there, we were not good enough, but both of us were state champions.

“But when you had the likes of NSW’s champion Joey Donovan, who eventually went on and carried the flag for Australia in Mexico, we had no chance to go anywhere.

“Many years later, I became good friends with Joey, who worked for the NSW Boxing Authority, and was on the Socog committee, for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, we often laughed and chatted about those days, Joey would have kicked my backside, every day of the week, sadly Joey passed away a couple of months before he could get so see his work come to fruition in the Sydney 2000 games.

“A good friend of mine, Bobby Barber, a Northern Territory Boxing trainer these days, also fought in those trials, and lost to Joey, he reminded me of many things that happened back in those days.

“ I turned professional under former Australian Light Heavyweight Champion Trevor ‘Stretch’ Anderson, in 1969 at age 15.

“ I had 23 professional fights, but about half were never recorded anywhere, I believe it was because I was fighting underage as a pro, I did speak with the late Ray Mitchell and also ratings chairman Don Marks about it, they both told me it was very common back in those days, plus there was no internet, fax machines or even telex back then.

“I had many of my fights on the iconic Australian ‘TV ringside’ series and fought many times at the famous Festival Hall in Melbourne. I also fought in Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat, Wagga Wagga, and other local venues in and around Melbourne.

“I retired in 1972, I didn’t do too badly as a professional, I won many more than I lost, but I fought in one of the most competitive eras in Australian boxing. I believe we then had approx 4000 registered fighters around the country.

“During my time as a professional, I boxed with Lionel a few times over at Jack’s gym, it was an unbelievable experience to box Lionel, I didn’t want to hit him, thankfully he looked after most of us younger fighters.

“I learned so much from him, his blistering hand and foot speed was something I worked hard to copy, he was hard to hit, and I modeled myself on him, and to this very day, I’ve still got great hands.

“I often trained with Trevor out of Ambrose Palmer’s gym, underneath Festival Hall.

“There is where I really hit my straps, I often boxed with names like Duke Rowlands, Pat Lamanna, Glenn & Terry Grinstead, Rocky Mattioli, the great Johnny Famechon himself, and later the likes of Former British Empire Champion Johnny O’Brien, and many other imports who came to fight the main event on TV Ringside.

“Fammo was great to spar, he was so fast, and really so hard to hit, he was a wizard, and is a great man, I’m still close friends with him today.

“I’m truly honored and grateful to have sparred with Manny Santos, Toro George, Hector Thompson, Leo Young, and boxed literally hundreds of rounds with Paul Ferrari, i often sparred with Henry Nissen, who took the title from my cousin Harry Hayes.

“It was an amazing experience for a 15 or 16 year old, but we never even thought about it, we just got on with what we were doing.

“In early 1972 my private life was turned upside down, and I changed trainers, I had my last fight in Nov 1972 and was then trained by former Australian Lightweight Champion Gilberto Biondi, and was managed by former fighter magazine photographer Oscar Minari, who assembled a team of Rocky Mattioli, Paul Ferrari, Myself, Frank Bianco and a couple others,

“ I lost my last pro fight on points to Mike Brown at the Brunswick cinema, it was on the undercard the same night Rocky Mattioli suffered his first loss, to the well-credentialed Paul Moore from Sydney.

“Rocky eventually left Biondi and Minari, and went to Italy, where he teamed up with the great Umberto Branchini, and went on to win the WBC World title from Eckhardt Dagge in Germany in 1978.

“My fight career ended that night, I’d lost the hunger, there were cars, girls and a life that I’d never lived, I then went about building a successful motor sales business after learning the trade.

You became a boxing referee in Brisbane in 1994. Tell me about your early years as a referee?

“I moved from Melbourne to the Gold Coast in 1990, I had previously been a member of the Victorian chapter of the Australian Boxing Federation, but after doing a stress test along with 9 other Referees and Judges in Melbourne, we all failed and were all deemed unsuitable to become Referees or Judges in the sport of professional boxing, true story, oh how wrong the lady who conducted those tests was.

“Anyway, in 1992, I was at an amateur fight night and met Jeff Flash Malcolm again after many years, Jeff took the Australian and Commonwealth titles from my cousin ‘Baby Cassius’ Lawrence Austin, who I also fought as an Amateur at Box Hill town hall, losing a close split decision.

“Jeff invited me to come to the Queensland branch of the ANBF meeting, which I did and joined up.

“In March 1994, a well-known referee named Denzil Creed resigned after a disagreement with the branch, and I asked if I could take his place, now they’ll be one ring official short.

“I made my professional officiating debut on June 11th 1994, and have not looked back since. I took to refereeing and judging like a duck to water, it became my life.

“I just wanted to become the best ring official I could, and 27 years later, I’m still striving to be the best official I can, not better than anyone else, simply the best version of me I can be.

“One year later in 1995, I also joined the Boxing Authority of NSW, and have worked for the Authority, now known as the Combat Sports Authority (CSA) ever since.

“ I met many great people of the sport in both Queensland and NSW, it really help me improve as an official, I eventually joined a regional organization, and got to work with some of the rising stars of our sport, it truly made me a more complete and capable Ring official.

“I began traveling to Japan, South Korea, and Thailand working fights for the WBA, and then I was invited to join the OPBF by President Frank Quill, who watched me on TV, he said he saw things in my officiating that could, and eventually did, see me get invited to join the WBC. I’ve been fortunate enough and honored to Referee and Judge many WBC contests, here in Australia and in many other countries.

“In the year 2000, I was invited to join the Foxsports team as a colour commentator. I worked in this capacity on and off for almost 20 years.

“I also worked for Fox doing the bios and research for all their boxing events, this gave me a higher profile within the sport, while at the time, I was also the National Secretary of the Australian National Boxing Federation (ANBF), for 3 odd years, before becoming Australian President for another 3 years.

“So throughout my career, I’ve had a busy mix of both officiating and administrative work, during my time in the sport, which really helped me become a more complete ring official, as I also began to rationalize and understand the many complexities our sport brings.

You were selected to referee the global ESPN-televised Tim Tszyu v Steve Spark bout which was one of Australia’s biggest fights of the year, last week. Why did they select a referee from the State of Queensland when the fight was in the State of New South Wales? Your thoughts?

“Yes it was interesting, and I was honored to be invited to referee this event.

“The fight I was originally appointed to referee, was for the long-awaited and hotly anticipated Tim Tszyu versus world-rated Michael Zerafa from Victoria.

“The Combat Sports Authority wanted a neutral Referee and Judges who could handle the pressure of the biggest fight to be held in NSW Australia in quite a few years.

“In the lead up to the original Tszyu v Zerafa fight, I believe there were lots of disagreements, one of these was, who will officiate this event.

“I knew I could handle the pressure, as I have done so many times previously because to me, there was no Michael Zerafa and no Tim Tszyu, it was simply Red corner v Blue corner, nothing else.

“I know both teams and both fighters, I respect them both, and my only focus would be to see that both competitors, had a fair and just opportunity to win this contest.

“In their efforts to show transparency and neutrality by selecting a neutral panel of officials, the CSA of NSW selected, what I believe was the strongest officiating team in the country, comprising of myself from Qld as a neutral Referee, neutral Judges from Qld, NSW and Victoria, but sadly Michael Zerafa still withdrew from the event, confirming their team held concerns about the Covid virus and quarantining.

“The new opponent Steve Sparks, was a capable opponent, but still he’s fighting a world-rated fighter in Tim Tszyu, so the CSA still kept me on the event, even tho there were no compromises being sought by either the Sparks or Tszyu teams.

You have refereed world champion female boxers Sharon Anyos and Erin McGowan. World-rated Australian female boxers Ebanie Bridges and Lauryn Eagle have a massive following. What are your thoughts on female boxing?

“Great question, I have always supported female boxing in Australia.

“Why? We are an equal opportunity sport, and I have always pushed for female competitors who are prepared to commit and dedicate their lives to this great sport. At one stage, I had refereed more female world and Australian title fights than any other Aussie official, but with the popularity of female boxing, that’s now changed, and I’m delighted it has.

“I am a huge supporter and a fan of female boxers and will continue to support and nurture females in the sport, as it slowly gains equal footing around the country with our men.

“I have an R&J team here in Qld, that I’ve taught from the very beginning, they were part of the WBC Muay Thai team which I created back in 2007, after President Sulaiman asked me to help get the WBC Muay Thai established in Australia.

“We now regularly officiate in either Amateur Thai boxing or amateur boxing events, and my team consists of three female officials, including my wife Jill, not only do they referee and judge, but they also supervise and time-keep as well, and rarely do they get it wrong, they are so passionate about getting it right.

“As I said, we are an equal opportunity sport, and I’ll continue to support female competitors, it’s interesting to note, I have never officiated a bad female fight in all my time at any level.

“ I believe that ladies/girls are an asset to our sport, because female competitors are always immaculately prepared, they do the hard work, and they deserve quality officiating as well as the men, I will never discriminate on gender, race, color or creed.

You are the highest-profile referee in Australia at the age of 67 years. The best referee’s in the world are in their sixties and seventies and these include Jack Reiss, Tony Weeks, Robert Byrd, Stanley Christodoulou, Jay Nady and Kenny Bayliss. Hall of Fame referee Arthur Mercante worked as a referee into his eighties. Should there be an age limit when referees should retire?

“It’s amazing how some officials will burn out after just a few years, whilst others will continue on, I truly believe it comes down to lifestyle.

“A fit body is a fit mind, I also believe that passion, dedication and commitment, are all huge attributes to longevity within our sport.

“Most of the above officials mentioned, I’ve got to know pretty well, I admire them all immensely, they’ve stood the test of time, whilst officiating at the highest level.

“However there will come a day when our feet just don’t want to move, or our mind just isn’t as sharp or as accurate as it should, our response times are getting slower, etc, or when I feel I cannot learn anymore. Then that is the time, I would seriously consider hanging up the bow tie because I would not risk getting a competitor injured or hurt as a result of my inability to serve them in the best possible way.

“When you consider as a referee, we have the welfare and safety of every competitor we ever work with, fair smack in the palm of our hands, it’s a very responsible position to be in, so we must respect that position, and use that power, to make wise and responsible choices.

“I am incredibly passionate about our sport, I am so passionate about seeing that correct decisions are made, by following the correct scoring criteria, and reading from the same page, that way the correct winners will be declared, and the integrity of our sport is never ever compromised.

“Having said that, I believe that there should be an age limit to look at our older officials, let’s say 70 or 72 years old or thereabouts, where Referees and Judges are tested to see those skills that saw us through the many years of officiating so many contests, have not deserted us.

“Then perhaps introduce a performance-based term from then on, it might be applicable, as we have some wonderful officials with vast experience, which simply cannot be replaced overnight, or even within a couple of years.

Many of the great boxing’s referees have officiated in Australia these include Hall of Famer Arthur Mercante senior, Richard Steele, Jack Reiss, Robert Byrd, Tony Weeks, Pete Podgorski, Wayne Kelly, Steve Smoger, Mark Nelson, Pat Russell, Bruce McTavish, Rudy Battle, Joe Cortez and Jay Edson. Did you talk to visiting world class referees to request any advice on being a referee.?

“I have met and worked with many of these incredibly talented and respected officials, and yes, I’m a sponge, and I have asked many of them and driven a few of them crazy, seeking answers to questions I was not sure of.

“Most of these guys willingly gave me answers, then stayed in touch and guided and assisted me in during my career.

“I’m truly grateful to have gained an insight and the little tips etc they offered, some of their advice worked well for me, others didn’t.

“I guess we are all individuals, and I believe it’s a ‘one shoe doesn’t fit all feet situation,’ so it comes back to the determination, commitment and passion of the individual official, to find a way to officiate in the correct manner, while still applying their own personality, principles and ethics.

“I was a big fan of Richard Steele, and many years ago, whilst in Moscow, he kindly signed and gave me his WBC tie, I still have it to this day.

Australian Hall of Famer Billy Males worked as third man in the ring from 1969 to 2001 and refereed more world title bouts than any other Australian. Has Billy offered you any advice.?

“Oh absolutely, I’m his biggest fan, I’ve never told Billy, but he was my hero. I admired his work for many years.

“Billy took me under his wing, and I watched closely how he did things with such ease. His positioning, his decision-making, and his control of the contest were always immaculate, I learned so very much from Billy, without him ever knowing it.

“I was incredibly fortunate to have worked with Billy prior to him retiring, I think I drove him mad asking question after question, eventually the penny dropped, and I became my own man and began to better manage my own ability, commitment and personality inside the boxing ring, and whilst I’ve made errors, I never make the same error twice.

You attended several WBC conventions around the world and conducted seminars. What are your thoughts on former President Jose Sulaiman and current President Mauricio Sulaiman

“I am the ring official I am today, because of former President Jose Sulaiman. I truly admired him, because the very first time we ever met, he treated me like I was family, like I was someone special, he often offered me advice and literature about officiating, and life in general outside the boxing ring, in my eyes, he truly was a pioneer, an absolute gentleman, who had the biggest heart of anyone I know.

“Jose gave me opportunities, he built up my confidence, and made me believe in myself, he loved and respected Australians and knew I was related to Lionel, he always treated me so well.

“I truly believe I was chosen to do this sport, with all the wonderful people I’ve met, and the amazing opportunities that came my way, it all simply fell into place for me.

“I truly earned my opportunities to work with the WBC, I was never given anything. I judged numerous championship fights before being given the opportunity to referee my very first WBC title fight, I then got a phone call from President Sulaiman congratulating me on my performance.

“I was asked by long time WBC senior referee and great friend Bruce McTavish from the Philippines, if I could take his place speaking at the WBC Ring officials seminar in Moscow, wow I thought, I can’t do this? but he assured me I can, he asked President Sulaiman if I could take his place, as he wasn’t feeling well, and the President agreed, in fact, he even joined myself and leading US referee Jay Nady as we both spoke for about 45 minutes each on both refereeing and judging to the hundred or more ring officials from around the world, it was scary.

“Then as I finished, Jay who is a real gentleman, and a guy I really looked up to, said to me, “Brad, how do I match that, well done brother.”.

“I’ll never forget that, as I admired him so much, and I regarded myself as a nobody.

“Jose also congratulated me, and gave me some pointers, most of which I still use today, I am the person I am when it comes to seminars and workshops, because of the help, advice and support of President Sulaiman.

“I believe the sport, and so many of its people involved, owe a debt to President Jose Sulaiman, may he RIP, after Jose passed away, the incoming Presidency was then taken over by his son Mauricio.

“I’ve always had a terrific relationship with Mauricio, he’s picked up where his great father left off, and has bought the WBC to even greater heights, the new health and safety programs they’ve introduced are truly amazing.

“In my opinion, the WBC is the finest of all sanctioning organizations, and are a very considerate, compassionate and extremely professional organization, they look after so many of our former great fighters who after retiring, have fallen on hard times, they do not discriminate, and are a very family orientated organization, that I have the utmost respect for.

“I am the ring official, and the person I am today, simply because of people like Australia’s finest referee ever in Billy Males and former WBC President, Don Jose Sulaiman (RIP)

You will be inducted into the Queensland Boxing Hall of Fame on July 25 in Brisbane. Your thoughts?

“I was stunned when told of my induction into the Queensland boxing hall of fame.

“I’ve always been active, helping to teach others, doing charity work, and creating opportunities for both fighters and officials, as well as administering in different capacities for 27 years, this recognition really humbled me.

“I’m very grateful and thankful to be recognized for doing something I love doing.

“I really feel like my work has not been in vain. I was told some time ago, I was the first Aboriginal to have held the office of Secretary and then President of the Australian National Boxing Federation (ANBF) also the first indigenous Australian to officiate as a Referee and Judge of a WBC World Championship fight, and now, I am joining my hero Lionel Rose, by being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“Lionel was my inspiration and made me believe in myself, I really hope and pray, this recognition will inspire many of my fellow indigenous men and women, to follow me and to have a go, just get involved, and learn our sport, in fact, learn any sport, and try to make a difference.